Saturday, July 24, 2010

Our new house had no full length mirror until today. In our old house, we had had one on the back of our bedroom closet door. We have no closet in our new master bedroom, so no mirror. Bill suggested that we use the bathroom mirror or the downstairs hall mirror. But Isabel and I could only see ourselves from the waist up in those. We told this to Bill, who suggested that the need to see oneself in full length must be some sort of culturally acquired female need. No, I explained, I need to see myself in full length so that I can assess the line of an outfit. How does the style of my shoes work with the length of my skirt? Does this outfit demand heels or flats? He doesn't get it. Eventually, we need a nice, antique style tall mirror. For now, we have a $10 Home Depot door mirror stuck to the bathroom door with 2-sided tape. It's not bad, if I may say so. Necessity is the mother of solutions!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

We're having an unusually hot summer and I'm guessing that this is why I'm drawn to lace projects. Yesterday I finished (finally) Evelyn Clark's "Go with the Flow" socks from Interweave's "Favorite Socks". Now I'm working on a shawl (own design)with a simple lace repeat. It's sort of brainless and soothing and even though it looks like a piece of shriveled nothingness right now, I'm concentrating on how lovely and useful it will be next fall. No photos of the shawl yet, but here are the socks, knitted from Trekking's pro natura wool and bamboo blend.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The vines have to go--asap. Last night, while I was trying to do edits on a design for Twist Collective, the raccoons decided it was time to romp on our roof. First there was the scrabbling sound of them climbing up the vines, then the leaping, thumps, and vocalizations from above. On their way up I startled them by rapping on the window of the study. But on their way down, when I used a large (7 mm) knitting needle to rap on the windows, all they did was stop and look at me with curiosity. Who was this lady with the long pointy thing drumming on the window panes? I phoned Ed, our arborist first thing this morning to set a date next week to get rid of the vines. They're pretty, but ending these nightly frolics is more important!On the knitting front, not much is happening. I seem to be stalled on socks. I knit, I rip, I sigh and knit some more. Hope to have something to show next post.

Friday, July 9, 2010

We got up early this morning to meet with Ed, the arborist, to discuss what to do about our vine problem. Our 150-yer-old house was previously occupied by a student, whose parents bought the house for her to live in while she studied at Queen's. Unfortunately, during her occupancy the exterior gardens were neglected and vines were allowed to grow up the walls, over the third floor deck, and even into the chimney. We're talking about layers of vines, some with tree-trunk stalks. At night they become a highway for a family of raccoons. They're also not good for the mortar between the bricks. We discussed with Ed whether to cut them back and let them re-grow in a more controlled fashion, or whether to get rid of them entirely. We're holding off on a decision until we meet with Mac, our potential contractor, on Monday.In the meantime, I'm working on edits for a design that will be coming out in the fall Twist Collective. The sock from my last post is on hold, possibly permanently; I've fallen out of love with the pattern. These things happen. I'll frog it and turn it into something else. I'm already working on a new sock, to be revealed later. Photo of the lake in the late afternoon. Great place to live.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

It's hard to believe that more than a week has passed since my last post. Here's a list of all that's transpired:1. Isabel, my 18-year-old, graduated from Elmwood School in Ottawa, where she won the Governor General's Medal, Waterloo University's Euclid Medal, the University of Toronto Book Award, the book prize for top student in her grade, and book prizes for top marks in calculus and classical civilization. Whew! I'm so proud. Photo taken on our first full day in Kingston, while we were living at the Hotel Belvedere.2. The closing on the sale of our house in Ottawa almost didn't happen. After the movers had hauled all our possessions away and we were on our way to Kingston, our lawyer called to say that our purchasers' lawyer had only just informed him that their financing had fallen through. Since the funds from our Ottawa sale were to be used the next day to close on our Kingston purchase, this was definitely not good news. Everyone scrambled. We came up with a plan for bridge financing and our Ottawa purchasers chased around for new financing. They succeeded (amazing what the threat of more than half a million dollars of liability will do to motivate), and everything worked out in the nick of time.3. I worked intermittently on this sock from Interweave's "Favorite Socks". It's a good measure of how little time I've had for anything but the move. In one week, all I've done is knit the heel and rip it out. Pathetic, I know. I think the worst is over, though. Onward...